Meet Terry the Terribly Troublesome Temp

Ah, Sunday the day of rest. Well, it would be if there was any accommodation made so the temporary attorneys could run even a single errand during the week. Instead Sunday is a hectic mad dash to catch up on mail, bills, food shopping, dry cleaning and personal hygiene. If there are a couple of hours left over at the end of the day perhaps some rest a relaxation will be in order. It is more likely though that those hours will be spent combing through the job boards that have been ignored all week in a desperate attempt to find any other work that will cover the bills.

The project site is not quiet either. The absence of temporary attorneys for 36 hours allows for a thorough search of each of their 2x4 rectangles of space. The contents are dually noted. A flower in a vase is observed at Temporary Attorney Changs space - how distracting. A book of Sudoku is discovered under a keyboard. A crossword puzzle surreptitiously photocopied on the agencies dime is found. What is this - a suitcase, hmn what interesting contents. All of this is recorded. Computers are turned on and keystroke reports are generated. There is no privacy here, these attorneys cannot be trusted.

Later in the evening when the firm and agency are satisfied with the list they have generated and know who will be getting “the call” this evening they scurry away like rats into the night. Then after more then 24 hours of hiding in the mechanical closet our hero Terry the Terribly Troublesome Temp stretches out legs that have not moved since crouching down just after slinking in to the closet right after signing out on Saturday night.

TTTTT or T5 is on a mission. Quietly T5 makes his way through the kitchen to the bathroom. Come on – it has been a whole day even heroes have to go. Once natures call has been tended T5 moves to the offices. The glass encased fiefdoms of the ruling class are left open and T5’s inventory begins…What do you think is in the drawers of the merciless rulers? What incriminating evidence will be uncovered?

What happened to the Hooker Walk?

The Hookers are still walking folks! TTT removed that post from his site - and I am not sure I dug his characterization but here again we have an example of the pressure agencies can place on Temps - so he removed that post right around the time he went on HIATUS. Hmmmmmmm. What does that mean? Discuss among yourselves. Or post your thoughts here!

I am Spartacus

Tom, I honestly hope you, your dad and your dog are all OK. But the show must go on. There are lots of temps to go around. So during your HIATUS all traffic can be directed to

http://temoraryattorneys.blogspot.com/

Note the added "S" to attorney. The added “S” stands for "SERVICE" during your HIATUS this temp will be filling your shoes and providing your readers with extra SERVICE. For example, they can count on information about reading speed and comprehension, which explains why coding 3 documents a minute cannot be done accurately. During your HIATUS your readers can also look forward to information about previous decisions that deal with fee sharing with non-lawyers! Stay tuned folks... Bookmark the blog now it is:

http://temoraryattorneys.blogspot.com/

We have added an "S" to attorney which stands for SERVICE!

---Now really we understand that the agency likely threatened you with torture if you continued to blog so now is the time for all temps to step forward and say "I am Spartacus...I, I mean I am Tom the Temp!"

What Tom the Temp said

Here is what I recall hearing from Tom the Temp


Friday, March 10, 2006
HIATUS

Unfortunately, tonight will be my last posting for awhile. I found out today that in the next several weeks someone close to me will have to undergo a difficult cancer treatment. I will no longer have the time, nor the emotional energy to engage in blog-posting. {dog is also causing emotional anguish in that she apparently fell down the stairs yesterday and is in a large amount of pain -- a tough decision may soon have to be made}. I know that many of you have enjoyed the blog over the last several months. The emotional toll, however, of continuing the blog under these circumstances would be just too much to bear. I apologize for having to leave you for the time being, and I hope you can understand.

-TTT

posted by helpme123 at 11:18 PM | 0 comments
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Stupid Policy

Everyone looks forward to mid-week. Every Wednesday or Thursday, a woman from the agency which owns the site comes around and hands out paychecks. Temp Attorneys, however, who are members of any of the "other" agencies that staff the project do not receive paychecks. Here is an e-mail that one of my colleagues (who works for one of those "other" agencies) received from his/her recruiter. The e-mail dates back to 1/20/06. Relevant portions are highlighted in bold. I thought I would leave in the non-relevant parts to give you a flavor of what was going on earlier on in the project.

Hi All,

First of all, Thank You for your patience with the {computer software} delays that resulted in the unexpected “days off” today and tomorrow. [little did we know that in two short weeks we were going to have a whole week off! -ttt]. As you know, the first few weeks of a project are always the toughest, while systems are being put in place and everyone is settling in, adjusting to a new work environment and its unique culture.

Second, I just wanted to remind everyone of the importance of making a good first impression in these initial days in order to establish the client’s confidence in your reliability and commitment to the project. While the feedback we’ve gotten from the client has been extremely positive, we wanted to make you aware of one issue that did arise, so that you can avoid this problem going forward.

Apparently, within the first work week, there were a number of people with sudden needs to be absent, arrive late, leave early, or otherwise take time off. While most of these people were not members of {agency's} team, it was a large enough number of people overall that the client flagged it as an issue to raise with everyone.

Unfortunately, the nature of this project does not allow flexibility in the number of hours worked, or when you work them. As you know, the hours are 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., 6 days per week. While we understand that emergencies do happen and that things like doctor’s appointments are important, “eleventh-hour” notice of a previously scheduled commitment is not acceptable. If you know ahead of time that you will need to take time away from the project, you must let us and the site supervisor know as far in advance as possible. Just so you know, because of the size of the project and the fact that it is being staffed by multiple agencies, the client is being extremely vigilant, noting not only which individual contractors are the most reliable and productive, but which agency’s teams perform better overall than the others. We know you are head and shoulders above the rest!

Finally, we apologize that we have not come over to visit with you, which ordinarily we would have done by now. It turns out that {agency which owns the site} has a policy of not allowing competitors into their space [and if it were up to {Anita}, she would be happy for us to come by]. We are disappointed about this policy because, as most of you know, we do like to stay in touch personally as much as possible – to say hello, to hear about any issues or concerns you may have, etc. So since we can't come to see you, we will be finding other ways to keep in touch and express to you our appreciation of all your hard work.

As always, please call or e-mail us any time if there's anything you want to talk about relating to the project [or anything else] – We’re here.

Have a great weekend!

{Sally}

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here was the solution devised in response to the apparent lockout: {it seems as if Tom the Temp has created his very own lexicon. Please distinguish the term "lockout" from "lockdown"}.

2/28/06

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that I will be at the Starbucks on the corner of 29th and Park Ave. South from 3 – 4 p.m. again tomorrow, Wednesday, March 1.

If you feel like taking a break during that time, please come by for refreshments!

Have a great evening,

{Sally}

In order to pick up their checks, your telling me that a group of my fellow co-workers have to trek up to some street corner in Manhattan like a bunch of hookers? Oh, Give Me A Freaking Break! This policy appears to make no sense; it seems vindictive and mean-spirited, and it appears as if its only justification is to spite the other agencies. The temps, as they usually do, have to pay the price. It's freezing out -- many people risk becoming sick, and many of them do not have health insurance. The temps also have to put up with the added annoyance of clocking out and losing a half an hour worth of pay. It appears as if there are a group of people on my project who are being treated like second-class citizens. If this stupid policy does not cease, or if this policy is not justified in some way, I am going to publicly announce the name of the agency that is responsible.

This is something that Anita should have thought about before signing the agency contract. Once again, she was probably too entranced by the glass-encased cubicles to realize otherwise.

posted by helpme123 at 7:56 PM | 25 comments
Saturday, March 04, 2006
"Stench Soup"


This is disgusting, but it has to be told:

Today, I got sick at work. At around midday, I decided that I would make quick use of the bathroom. BIG MISTAKE! They must have turned off the ventilation system for the weekend. The stench was so overwhelmingly putrid that as soon as I walked into the cramped, foul-smelling bathroom, I gagged and almost threw up into the sink. It wasn't pretty. I took away from this experience two very important lessons: a) never use the restroom on the weekends b) during the week, never use the restroom after 3 p.m. Certainly, there is a hard-working custodian on-site who tries his best to deal with an untenable situation. Constantly cleaning two small, cramped bathrooms -- which are constantly being used by over 100 people -- is, however, a losing proposition. If Anita only had kept this in mind when choosing a site (instead of focusing on how many glass-encased cubicles there were going to be), we would be in much better shape.

I have an idea that can save the American taxpayers millions of dollars:

By way of the Los Angeles Times, I have learned about a new military initiative. The Pentagon actually has a multimillion dollar research and development program to make weapons that can stink an enemy into surrender.These weaponized stinks are pressurized into "canisters" that are to be launched at enemy troops, crowds of protesters, or any other targets deemed worthy of effervescent smells. They even come in different aromas. One of the "malodorants" (the Pentagon term) bears the label "Bathroom Malador" and it is described as having "a strongly fecal smell, with sharp notes of spoiled eggs and an undertone of rotting rodent." "Stench Soup" has such a foul odor that it "fills the mind with white noise." Wow!

Why not call up the Pentagon and inform them that we have come up with our very own version of "Stench Soup"? Just an idea.


posted by helpme123 at 10:09 PM | 10 comments
Thursday, March 02, 2006
The Medusa



Anita informed us today that we should try to code 1,000 documents a day. 1,000 documents a day can be a difficult number to reach (esp. with denser documents) , but overall is a reasonable number to try to strive for.

I remember one time I was on a project with the "Medusa." The "Medusa" is notorious in document review circles. She makes you code 4,000 documents a day within a 10 hour time period. Coding 4,000 documents a day is impossible; the only way to code 4,000 documents a day is to NOT read the documents. The "'Medusa" didn't care. The "Medusa" turned anyone who questioned her authority into stone. Shit eventually hit the fan when highly inflammatory documents were produced. The "Medusa" needed to engage in damage control. The "Medusa" -- along with her sexist, frat-boy trapped in a 45 yr old body sidekick -- grabbed the only lifeboat available and saved themselves by blaming the temps for the incident. In the blink of an eye, the "Medusa" turned every single one of the temps into stone. Eventually, she turned the agency into stone, as well.

3/04/06- Response to a Comment:

"The Medusa in your picture is pretty hot"

Oh, silly guy. How appearances can decieve! You must have never worked with the Medusa. In the future, if you ever find yourself on a project with the Medusa, take my advice. Remember Daedalus? Deadalus built a pair of wings for his son out of wax. Unfortunately, his son flew too close to the sun and his wings were burnt. Similarly, if I were you, I wouldn't fly too close to the Medusa. Many people have learned this lesson the hard way.

posted by helpme123 at 10:29 PM | 20 comments
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Is Anita Back?

I received the following e-mail yesterday from someone on my project. It concerns an e-mail that he/she received from one of the agencies regarding the project. Tom the Temp's comments in bold.

Tom the Temp,

Anita may have been gone physically today but her handiwork is alive and well as evident by the below email from her agents at one of the agencies (looks like the old Anita is back).

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all well. {doing okay aside from my mild case of carpal tunnel}. Thank you again for weathering what I know has been a rocky month {more than a month, it is March already} or so on this project. I understand from the folks who are running the site that things are about to pick up however, and I thought this would be a good time to remind you of some general policies {rules} that must be followed:

First, make absolutely sure that you sign in and sign out accurately, and that what you record on the sign in/sign out sheet is consistent with what you record on your timesheets. {don't overbill - I hope the "vanishing princess" isn't on this project}.

Second, cell phone use, internet use, {we don't have internet, remember?} and other personal/recreational activities {we weren't playing squash or anything} like puzzles – other than when you are on your breaks – must be kept to a very bare minimum. {not just a bare minimum, but a "very" bare mininum} We have received complaints about excessive {that is a strong word} amounts of all three activities. This policy may have been relaxed during the slow weeks, but it is VERY important again starting now and going forward. {sign that "lockdown" is coming}.

Finally, just a reminder that the attorneys managing the site do have the ability to track exactly what work you have done on a daily basis and when. {big brother is watching} If they feel they have any reason to question your attention to the work, they will verify your productivity, and low numbers combined with things like cell phone use, etc. will be a basis for being removed from the project. {this is fair - hopefully, however, no more public executions for people caught with a game of minesweeper}.

Thank you all for taking note of these policies. We reiterate them not to harass you, but to make absolutely clear what is expected, so that no one is asked to leave the project for failure to follow them out of lack of notice. {thanks for the heads up. I just wish that all of the agencies would have informed their candidates. I didn't receive any notice}.

Please be in touch and let us know how else we can support you throughout the project.
Again, with many thanks.

Is this just a friendly reminder, or a sign that we are on the verge of another "lockdown." Only time will tell.

posted by helpme123 at 10:30 PM | 19 comments
Monday, February 27, 2006
The Vanishing Princess

There is a rumor going around the NYC temp attorney market that I hear over and over again. Apparently, a woman (let us refer to her as the "Vanishing Princess") had a boyfriend who lived across the street from a document review site. The "Vanishing Princess" would show up every morning in her pajamas. She would swipe in at the front door, and then immediately vanish through the back door. It appears as if she unethically overbilled the client for hours which weren't in fact worked. If this is true, I am utterly disgusted. People like this give people like me (who do this work for a living) a bad name.

What most disturbs me about this incident is the fact that nobody reported her. The agency and law firm that employed her had an ethical obligation to report her to the bar. Apparently, nobody did. Nobody cared. It seems as if they were more concerned about avoiding negative publicity than following the rules of ethics. How sad.

I believe the legal temp industry is helping to undermine the integrity and professionalism of the legal profession.

posted by helpme123 at 11:09 PM | 10 comments
Sunday, February 26, 2006
BRIBERY










(I will get you Tom the Temp)

Sometimes, I feel like I work in an industry run by the mafia. There are blacklists, there are moles, there are people like Zabby who send you threatening e-mails when you speak out against the "family." Some of the agency bosses, in fact, appear as if they have just stepped out of a Godfather movie. One agency boss is notorious for his shiny, slicked-back hair and for his colorful, polyester suits. Sometimes, he will arrive on-site, arm-in-arm with two blond-headed bimbos.

What is most mafia-like, however, is the allegations of corruption and bribery. I have heard of instances where certain agencies have bribed certain law firm employees in order to receive business. At one project that I was on, one of the project supervisors actually had the gall to admit that she was receiving weekly spa tickets and "other things" from the agency. I wonder how many of these "little gifts" were disclosed to law firm management and/or to the law firm's clients?

Please Note- I am in no way saying that anyone on my current project is taking bribes. I have no evidence of that. In fact, on this project, it appears as if just the opposite is true. Apparently, Anita looked around at several sites, and was most interested in finding a site that would provide for the greatest level of micro-management. When she chose our site, she must have loved the glass-encased cubicles.

posted by helpme123 at 1:41 PM | 19 comments
Friday, February 24, 2006
Pre-Law Students: Beware

Here is a letter from a top 25 law grad that I found on-line. It speaks to the frustrations that many young attorneys face in a tight legal job market. Only go to law school if can you make it into a top 25 school AND you know for a fact that you will graduate in the top 1/2 of your class. {being an associate also sucks big time. My advice would be to avoid law school at all costs.}

Dear Uncle Ezra:

Do you counsel alumni? I sure hope so because this alum is just about at the end of his rope and I'm honestly not sure where to turn, except to suicide. I remembered your column from my undergraduate days and found your answers insightful and empathetic. I never thought I'd need to write, but I was obviously wrong.
The basic conflict of my life, and the greatest challenge I have ever faced, comes down to this: I consider myself unemployable at this time, and I do not see a way out of my current situation. Here's the background: I graduated from Cornell five years ago with high grades. I was (un)fortunate enough to be accepted into a top 25 law school in Washington DC, and proceeded to attempt to pursue my dreams of becoming a lawyer.
I graduated from law school and passed the bar exam on my first try in December. While in law school I was required to finance my entire legal education because help was not forthcoming from home; in the process I racked up an educational debt of over $100,000, an amount not unusual for graduating law students, and an amount that law students are generally willing to bear because of the (perceived) high starting salaries in the profession. Of course I also held odd jobs on the side to help put me through school.
Honestly, I was not a sterling law student. The financial pressures and being required to work outside of the rigorous law school classroom took a toll on the mental resources I had available to study. I ended up graduating with an OK but not stellar G.P.A. which put me exactly in the middle (rank-wise) of my graduating class. And this is where my problems really started.
According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the US Department of Labor, the amount of law school students graduating far exceeds available jobs. This creates a situation where competition for jobs is extremely keen as lawyers continue to glut the market more and more with every graduating class. The current job outlook for attorneys is among the most hostile of all the professions. Law firms are only now slowly beginning to recuperate from a steep recession, a time when many firms closed their doors and the surviving ones took ruthless measures to cut costs.
And here lies the crux of my problem: I have been searching for a job as an attorney for almost two years now, with not a hint of a job offer. The literally hundreds of resumes I have sent out combined with the hundreds of rejection letters have crushed my once healthy self-esteem to the point where I honestly believe myself to be unemployable.
First I attempted to search in Washington. But Washington is even worse off for lawyers than most other places. Tons of lawyers want to go to DC because "that's where the action is."
After graduating I took a job for a while as a "temp" attorney for a legal temping agency, an industry that is booming in large cities because law firms love the opportunity to take advantage of the lawyer glut by paying temp lawyers only a fraction of what they would pay permanent employees. As a temp (together with several other highly qualified attorneys put into similar straits), i was made to work under the most deplorable of work conditions. There were times when I was put into a basement with no heat at sub-freezing temperatures to look through millions of mind-numbing documents at a time. I was paid less than a career paralegal and had no health or other insurance or benefits. We were constantly reminded explicitly and implicitly of our non-status at the places in which we worked.
I eventually got so sick of the way that I was being treated that I stopped temping. The last ten months have been a mixture of exasperated job searching and severe depression.
I left Washington for the South in order to try to pursue career opportunities elsewhere, but I have been similarly unsuccessful. And in the small city I live now, there are no legal temp agencies to keep me occupied while I search. I've come to accept the bitter reality that I may never find employment as an attorney. The last ten months of unemployment have become an albatross to explain, and the market continues to be lousy.
For the last several weeks I have been attempting to explore employment options outside the legal industry, but am at a loss as to how I might apply my skills and education in a non-legal setting. One industry in particular that I thought might use my skills is the management consulting business, since individuals doing that kind of work are required to have advanced analytical skills, communications skills, and ability to work with others--all of which are skills I have acquired through my legal training. But already the letters of rejection are again starting to pour in. Why? Because recruiters at non-legal firms have trouble understanding why a licensed attorney would be seeking employment at their company. So here is my bind, in summary: 1) I can't find permanent employment in the legal profession. There is a large scarcity of jobs; furthermore when I do get interviews I have to explain why I have not been able to obtain permanent employment in almost two years to someone who became a lawyer way before the market became as bad as it is now and who often has little understanding of what the present-day new lawyer has to go through if he has anything but stellar academics from a top 5 law school. 2) Temp opportunities where I live now are non-existent. 3) I have no money left and therefore cannot afford to take volunteer work on anything approaching a full-time basis or even part time basis. Nor do I have any money with which to start my own law firm. 4) I have a large educational debt. Until now, being unemployed has served as a shield against hungry creditors; but my loan forbearance options are running out and some of my creditors are going to start demanding payment later this year. 5) I have to obtain employment that pays reasonably well so that I can afford to pay the $1200+ a month that my creditors will demand as soon as they learn that I have obtained paid employment. 6) It is difficult to explain to a non-legal employer why I seek employment with them. If I tell them it's because I can't find a job as a lawyer they will either consider me a loser (which nobody wants) or will think that I'm only biding my time until I find a job as an attorney. If I tell them that I never wanted to be a lawyer (which would be a lie), they would ask me why i went to or completed law school and got my license. And I also have to explain the last ten months of unemployment, regardless.
So here I am, without knowing what to do. My self-esteem is crushed, my finances are in chaos, and I see no viable options for getting out of this mess. Except suicide. I hope you print this letter in your regular column, and that it serves as a warning to those who might wish to enter the legal profession: if you want to go to law school, you better make sure you get into a top law school and get top grades. If you don't, you will have wasted your money and your life, as I appear to have wasted mine.

New NYC temp attorney message board: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NYCtemporaryattorney/

Also, if anyone has a copy of E.P. Dine's "liquidated damages" clause, please e-mail me. It's the one where they outrageoulsly claim that they have the right to withold your paycheck if you decide to walk off a project with sweatshop-type conditions. Tom the Temp needs to start going after these people.

posted by helpme123 at 10:42 PM | 20 comments
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Anita, We Want A Raise

Just received the following e-mail:

There are now multiple openings for a three-month project and I need to hear from you right away. This will pay $40/hrly straight time. This will {be} startin{g} {in} one week and a half. Please let me know if you are available now or will ABSOLUTELY be available within that timeframe. Please feel free to pass this email to other attorneys who are available. New York Bar admission is highly preferred.

Given that we are now receiving only $35 an hour with little to no O.T., this may be a better deal. If anyone is interested, please e-mail me and I will provide you with the ad's contact details.

New Blogs: http://nydocreviewer.blogspot.com/
http://www.dcmetrocontractattorneys.blogspot.com/
http://dctemplawer.blogspot.com/
http://legaltemp.wordpress.com/
http://dctemp.blogspot.com/
http://dccontractattorneys.org


I guess I started a trend! I am glad to see DC now in the mix. We still need Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, L.A., San Francisco, and Boston! If anyone wants me to include their blog, please e-mail me. I will be adding blogs to the links section shortly.

Information for new bloggers:

Check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation site! If you can, donate some cash. They are providing an invaluable service.
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Anonymity/blog-anonymously.php

"An author is generally free to decide whether or not to disclose his or her true identity. The decision in favor of anonymity may be motivated by fear of economic or official retaliation, by concern about social ostracism, or merely by a desire to preserve as much of one’s privacy as possible. Whatever the motivation may be, . . . the interest in having anonymous works enter the marketplace of ideas unquestionably outweighs any public interest in requiring disclosure as a condition of entry. . . . .Under our Constitution, anonymous pamphleteering is not a pernicious, fraudulent practice, but an honorable tradition of advocacy and dissent"
--McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission

posted by helpme123 at 8:45 PM | 5 comments
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Law School Applications Falling

Applications to Law Schools Are Declining

--Has law school lost its appeal? Last year, for the first time since the 1997-98 admission cycle, the number of applicants to law school declined, by 4.6 percent, and so far this year, the number has declined by 9.5 percent.

New York Times, 2/9/06


--If someone came up to me and said "law school apps are at an 8-year low" and I wanted to give them an answer without doing any real research (research journalism is so mid-20th century), I'd guess it's the combined effect of drastic increases in law school tuition in recent years (as public schools depend more on tuition than state funding, allowing private schools to follow suit) and the horrid student loan provisions of the "Deficit Reduction Act" that will go into effect this July. Apparently, federal spending on student loans accounts for about one-half of 1 percent of the federal budget, but the cuts to the student loan program amout to 30 percent of the proposed budget cuts ( about $12.7 billion). Additionally, the DRA will prohibit in-school loan consolidation, preventing students from locking in favorable interest rates as soon as their last loan dispersements are made, and it will also prevent loan reconsolidation. To further inconvenience students, Stafford loan rates are going up from 4.7%to 6.8% and PLUS loans are going from 6.1% to 8.5%. In short, law school is EXPENSIVE and is getting harder and more expensive to finance now than anytime in recent history. If that doesn't deter kids already saddled with undergrad loans, then maybe the polar bears will.

Random Comment: http://ifoughtthelaw.cementhorizon.com


When people ask me and my fellow temps why we subject ourselves to such harsh working conditions, the answer that comes up over and over again is student loans. Student loans are crushing. Paying off law loans is the equivalent of paying off a second mortgage with no house to show for it.

Imagine what it is going to be like for those poor, unfortunate souls who will be graduating in the next 3-5 years. Many of them will be forced to make monthly loan payments in excess of $1500+. Inevitably, they will be desperate, dispirited, and hungry. You can rest assured, however, that the Harpies will be right there waiting, ready to throw their new, unsuspecting prey right into the document review tar pits.

posted by helpme123 at 9:34 PM | 5 comments
Monday, February 20, 2006
Dangerous Ideas

"Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored. Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas."

The freedom to express ideas is dead on my project. Apparently, when one attempts to log onto my site from work, the message "access denied" appears on the screen. It appears as if my site has joined the ranks of those "banned" materials which espouse dangerous ideas. Undoubtedly, employers have the right to restrict internet access and deny the viewing of certain sites. But why take the trouble to block my site? Could it be that they consider my site "dangerous"? What could be so "dangerous" about my site? Could it be that I pointed out the fact that temps in general make only 1/8th of what they are billed out for? Could it be that they didn't like the negative media attention generated when I pointed out that the temps on my project were being treated more like animals, rather than as human beings? Perhaps. Just a hunch.

Please do not allow anyone to "chill" your freedom of speech rights. I am noticing a disturbing trend in which the number of daily hits continues to be as high as ever, but the number of comments posted has continued to fall. Please post and get your message out. In posting, just use common sense.

posted by helpme123 at 3:10 PM | 12 comments
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Marcy, Get Off The Computer!


Think about it. There are a hundred bored, strung-out people eager to communicate with the outside world. Meanwhile, there exists only two open internet portals. Everytime one of the portals open, it is like a hundred rabid, starving coyotes running to snatch a raw piece of meat. Despite the scarcity of this limited "internet" commodity, there exists a handful of people who "milk" the resource.

For one, there is Marcy. (resembles Peanuts cartoon character). To the dismay of those on the far side of the room, Marcy, with pen in hand, often makes it onto the terminals at least 15-2o times a day. She then passes it off to her friend "the fisherman." The "fisherman" (who comes to work wearing a long, floppy fisherman's hat) isn't known for the quantity of his internet visits, but rather for their longevity. The "fisherman" has been known to write novels, as e-mails. When the "fisherman" and Marcy aren't using the net, you can always be sure that "earphones" will jump on. "Earphones" sits in close promixity to the portals, and is notorious for BOTH the longevity and quantity of his visits. When "earphones" gets on the computer, you can rest assured that you won't be in contact with the outside world anytime soon.

Today, there were alot of empty seats. I thought the flu hit. Apparently, it appears as if it wasn't the flu, but rather the firing axe. Oh, my!

posted by helpme123 at 9:49 PM | 28 comments
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Tom The Temp Is A Wimp

From a reader:

"I think I speak for many when I say that its an insult to our intelligence for you to say you had an epiphany that the board was not being conducted properly. A 180 degree turn like the one that happened here is caused by something else (a threat most likely)."

People are pissed. They feel betrayed, hurt, and feel like I turned my back on them after doing such a great job exposing flaws within the industry.

Can you cut Tom the Temp a little slack? He is still on your side. He is still that tenacious bull-dog ready to expose injustice. I DID NOT delete the comments. They will be reposted shortly. I am having a very tough week (dog is sick), and I haven't had the time to weed out the comments section. Why do I need to moderate comments? Because readership has grown. Soon this blog will be featured in a popular, national publication. With exposure comes responsibility.

Some points that need to be made:

a) Anita is a personification of a certain management style. Anita, however, is also a real person. Anita is a mother. Outside of work, Anita is probably a wonderful person. In all likelihood, she is also probably a great lawyer. We must keep this distinction in mind.

b) No, I was not threatened. If Zabby didn't scare me, no one will.

c) I don't "log" ISP's. I am not the CIA. Sitemeter (which counts the number of daily visits and is used by most blogs) does report who is currently logged onto the site. If I happen to be checking my site count for the day, and notice that a particular agency is posing as a temp, all the while defaming another agency, I will take action. That is an unfair trade practice, it destroys the credibility of the blog, and is illegal. If I didn't take this action, all the agencies would come on here, fabricate stories, and flame each other out. You wouldn't know what to believe.

d) This is not a forum to anonymously attack and smear other temps/people you don't like. You can't call someone a ho, slut, or bitch.

e) There are a handful of rotten temps out there, including the guy who stole 10 bottles of Poland Spring water from the kitchen today. Yeah, I saw you!

With that in mind, let us now go forward and expose the injustices of legal sweatshop labor and corrupt agency behavior!

posted by helpme123 at 12:06 AM | 36 comments
Monday, February 13, 2006
What A Difference A Week Makes


{from one to the other}


Today, my day started off on the wrong foot. On my way to work, I fell into a giant ice puddle. It wasn't pretty. Usually, when your day starts off in such a manner, you just know the rest of your day doesn't bode well.

Fortunately, my day didn't turn out to be so bad after all. Since we have been away, it appears as if Anita has undergone a major transformation. Chalk it up to a near-death experience or a spirtual awakening -- who knows.

Surprisingly, Anita showed a side of herself today that was friendly, polite, engaging, humorous, and good-natured. Not only did she hop from desk to desk to inquire as to how we were doing, but she actually handed out candy! It leads me to ask one simple question -- What happened to the old Anita?

posted by helpme123 at 9:04 PM | 17 comments
Sunday, February 12, 2006
An Important Note

A note regarding the possible restart of the project:

This blog has been chronicling the difficulites facing one particular group of contract employees. Unfortunately, it reached a point where grievances had to be aired on a public forum. To the agency's credit, they did, in fact, hold a meeting allowing people to raise their concerns. Despite this opportunity, however, no one took them up on it. Many contract lawyers swear that an agency-wide "blacklist" exists -- it is claimed that those who raise legitimate concerns will be branded as troublemakers and find themselves "blackballed" from the industry. The agencies vehemently deny this claim. While the existence of a "blacklist" is debateable, the perception of one certainly exists amongst contract attorneys. While no legitimate grievances were raised at Monday's meeting, I have received numerous e-mails from people (many of whom were actually at that meeting) raising serious issues and concerns.

Thankfully, this blog has provided many people --people who had previously perceived themselves as voiceless -- with a voice. Regrettably, many of the criticisms became personal. Hurtful things were said on both sides. Undoubtedly, feelings were hurt. As for any perceived involvement on my part in helping to foster such an atmosphere, I apologize. The project cannot continue in an environment poisoned by ill-will and hatred. All previous comments and/or references relating to the specific firms/agencies involved in this matter have been eliminated. Hopefully, for those returning to that particular project, I hope that you all can put this ugly chapter behind you and start over from a clean-slate.

As for the industry as a whole, it is important to realize that serious problems currently do exist. People have serious gripes (you should read some of my e-mails) and those gripes are not being addressed. People feel intimidated and disenfranchised and that creates for hostile and inefficient workplaces. Despite having created (with fellow co-workers) a "top-ten opinion list" of NYC area temp agencies and despite the fact that most agencies view my site on a daily basis, only one agency has actually come forward and inquired as to what they could do to improve their standing in the temp community. While it isn't easy to survive in such a competitive legal market, sometimes there is more to the bottom-line than just the bottom-line.

posted by helpme123 at 3:07 PM | 43 comments
Saturday, February 11, 2006
It Can Be Done!

If agencies stop protecting our rights as employees, there is precedent of people going at it alone.

Posted by a Tom the Temp reader:

"In late fall of 2000 a small firm in Hartford, CT named Axinn Veltrop and Harkrider, a firm who at the time was unfamiliar with agency placement, wisely posted a job announcement on monster.com seeking attorneys for document review at a rate of $55/hr. Needless to say, the firm was flooded with resumes from out-of-work attorneys as well as attorneys seeking to leave other assignments. For 2000, this was a temp cash cow akin to winning the lottery. Those select few lucky enough to come on board to this project enjoyed agency-free and well-deserved high pay for the work done. The law firm, however subsequently recognized that they could not list and pay these attorneys as their own employess and thus converted their status to independent contractors and bumped their pay to $68/hr so as to compensate them for taxes to be paid. The contract attorneys lucky enough to be on this project enjoyed what was at the time a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work unlimited hours free of agency direction and moneysharing.

Most of the attorneys were from outside of the Hartford area and were able to stay in hotels and tax-deduct lodging, parking and part of their meals for the duration of their tenure at the project. Sure, the hours were long and the demands of the review were intense with production deadlines looming and an overbearing associate who was stringent on how things were to be done, but it is not much different than it is now. The situation was much more tolerable only because the attorneys felt that they were finally being paid their due, and those that left lower-paying assignments high-and-dry in favor of this one quickly dismissed any guilty feelings about what they had done. Some were even able to pay off car notes, mortgages and student loans!

Unfortunately, the word about this project leaked to one and more of the major NYC agencies (to their defense on this blog, Update was not one of them, though I am sure they would have loved it) and any additional staffing needed by the firm was done through them, at the paltry rate of $25/hr. A complete shame. This project lasted for about 6 months, yet very few were on board for the entire start-to-end ride.This is certainly no urban legend, it actually happened - you decide how come I know so much about it. My point about this story is that if temps want to sucessfully circumvent the agency relationship and retain more of the monies that they are due, band several attorneys together and market yourselves to law firms as small groups with established credentials that will enable law firms to recognize you as professionals and it will allow you to compete with the agencies for staffing.

We are in these firms more than they are and we know the who's who in terms of who makes the decisions to staff large-scale reviews. I would think a law firm is more apt to engage an established attorney reviewer known to them who can bring on board a team of hardcore and diligent document reviewers for far less than the agency-billed rate. Aren't we attorneys who as solos are forced to market ourselves to rainmake and retain clients? This is the same skill.I'm on my way out of this temp industry so my stake in sharing this with you is my wish and hope that things will improve for those I will leave behind in the profession as a result of any seed I have planted."

Thank you for sharing that. -- TTT

posted by helpme123 at 9:01 PM | 9 comments
One Solution

"Silicon Valley unions are trying to improve the lot of high- tech temps in a novel way: They've set up a labor-run temporary staffing firm.

The South Bay Labor Council of the AFL-CIO launched a nonprofit staffing firm last winter called Solutions at Work that aims to provide temporary clerical workers to small businesses.
Solutions at Work so far has placed about 75 workers at 60 firms.

The staffing firm is part of the Labor Council's efforts to respond to the rise of contingent workers -- temporary, contract or part-time workers who often have little job security and few benefits. "

-San Francisco Chronicle

Would a non-profit work for us? With the low overhead and the large amount of money the agencies skim off the top, maybe we could use the excess funds for benefits and still undercut the competition? Good idea? Feedback?

posted by helpme123 at 2:09 AM | 26 comments
Friday, February 10, 2006
Crying Like A Baby

"from what I can see you were given plenty chances to call your agency with your complaints and you never did. You can't now cry like a baby."

Why didn't I just tell my agency? Good question.

A few months ago, on another project, I did tell my agency. (at this point, I am not going to name which one.) I filled them in with regards to an allegation that I was making against the project. (again, as of now, I am not going to name the firm.) You know what they said? They said, "We'll take care of it."

Did they take care of it? Of course not.

About a week later, I was informed by my agency that the project had wound up. The project hadn't in fact "wound up" -- I was informed of this through a friend who was still on the project. The agency and the law firm did nothing to remedy the situation.

That is what you get for raising an issue with your agency. Luckily, I saved all of my old e-mails.

posted by helpme123 at 3:19 PM | 35 comments
New Policy

All comments providing a link to an outside agency or law firm website will be deleted. PLEASE DO NOT CLICK ON AN OUTSIDE SITE LINK!!! The home server of that outside site can easily track your ISP address and note the fact that your visit originated from this site.

posted by helpme123 at 1:50 PM | 0 comments
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Big "Owl" Is Watching You

A paranoid work environment is an environment which exhibits a pervasive pattern of distrust and suspiciousness. Namely, an inability to trust, distortion and fabrication, pathological mind-control, and instinctive aggressive counter-attack.

It's 2/2/06. All is quiet on the temp attorney floor. The quiet, humdrum of the constant clicking is the only noise which fills a lifeless room. Gasp! As quickly as lightning shoots across the summer sky, Anita emerges from her glass-encased cublicle. A sudden chill fills the air. Several temps caught off-guard by Anita's sudden emergence scatter to the wind. As we all have become acutely aware of Anita's tendency to feed upon her unsuspecting prey, we all brace.

Anita gazes around the room. Seemingly not in the mood to pick off another temp, Anita, in an apparent fit of boredom, heads off toward the Xerox machine. In stunned silence, we quietly watch as she photocopies and hangs up around the room over a half a dozen owl pictures. "Attention everyone," shouts Anita. "Don't read anything into this. The owls mean nothing. This is just to prevent you all from walking head-first into the glass-encased cubicles." As quickly as she emerged, Anita once again seals herself off within her glass cube.

The temps, meanwhile, stare at each other in stunned disbelief. What can this all mean? Of all things, why a picture of an owl? Why not a "beware of the glass" sign? Could it be that we are all reading too much into this -- maybe we should take Anita's word at face value? Who knows. For the rest of the day, everytime I look up, an owl stares down into my workspace. His eyes, piercing and always watching, brood over a hopeless temp attorney dumping ground.

posted by helpme123 at 3:02 PM | 12 comments
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
My Two Cents

People have been e-mailing me wanting to know which agencies they should stay away from. I hate doing this. People have varying experiences/opinions and everyone's top 10 list will turn out different. Here it goes anyway. My opinion:

Agency okay:

1. Solomon-Page

Agencies I believe display a mixed record:

2. Hudson
3. Lexolution
4. Strategic
5. De Novo
6. Compliance

Agencies I would avoid:

7. Legal Support Personnel
8. HIRECounsel
9. E.P. Dine

Coming Soon: Tom the Temp will
provide his opinion shortly:

-Peak
-Update Legal
-Special Counsel

The list is not all-inclusive. The list is NYC based -- I will be interested in seeing what people have to say in other cities. Furthermore, the list is subject to radical change. I will be putting out periodic updates. Please post or e-mail your feedback. NO recruiters posing as candidates!

I will post an update on Monday's meeting shortly. I have to take the dog out. Until next time!

posted by helpme123 at 1:24 PM
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Tom the Temp Needs You!

When I started this blog over two months ago, I never realized that the site would blossom into what it is today. The number of daily visits continue to grow at an exponential rate. Obviously, it's not the mediocre writing that is attracting all of those readers. It's the message! People live this hell, on a daily basis. Now, people finally have a public forum where they can air their grievances without having to worry about being placed on the agency blacklist.

I am worried, however. It is only a matter of time before someone "outs" me. It seems as if we have made a parlor game out of "outing" the next anonymous work blogger. Cyberspace is littered with the graves of those who were caught blogging about work. Regardless, even if I can avoid being "outted," I will not always have the "luck" of being placed on the next 100 person sweatshop project.

Even if Tom the Temp dies, this site cannot perish! Someone suggested the following:

"I know it is difficult for you to post often. You might try using guest posters."

I need people to infiltrate various sweatshop-type projects. I need people to report what is going on, in a humorous and accurate way. In other words, I need to find maybe a Tim the Temp and/or a Tina the Temp. Any volunteers?

Also, if anyone specializes in labor law issues and would like to provide general assistance, please let me know.

posted by helpme123 at 1:57 PM
Monday, February 06, 2006
The Legal Sweatshop Award

Irony is the spice of life. I see it everywhere. Last month, law.com listed Paul Weiss as its 2006 Litigation Department of the Year. Noted for their deft strategy and dogged work, Paul Weiss was noted for steering its clients through some pretty turbulent years. In terms of their public-interest work, Paul Weiss was noted for its victory in defense of the Santa Fe Living Wage Ordinance, which will likely have widespread implications on other living wage campaigns throughout the United States. Ironically, when it comes to the way in which they treat their own temporary workers, it's Tom the Temp's belief that their record is less than satisfactory.

For a short while, I actually temped at this firm. The conditions were horrific. There were about 15 of us -- half former biglaw associates/half recent graduates -- packed into a small, windowless conference room. It appeared as if the room had previously served as a supply closet. Every morning, in order to reach our workspaces, we had to climb over one another. At my workstation, I wasn't able to extend my arms, nor was I able to lean back, as I would have pressed up against those working around me. Because the review was paper-based, throughout the day boxes upon boxes of discovery documents would pile up around the room. In an emergency, things could have gotten dicey. Talking was forbidden. A heavy-set paralegal would periodically come around and bellow out in a deep, baritone voice to do, "more workin' and less talkin'." Like a child, you had to sign out to use the restroom. Additionally, if you arrived to work more than a half an hour late, you would have been required to go home for the day. Stalinism prevailed, as people were constantly being fired for speaking out of line. One day, a middle-aged woman, who had recently been laid off from her in-house job, broke down in tears.

After a few days in this hell-hole of a job, I just had to get out. I hopped off the project. The agency wasn't pleased. Late one night, I received an angry call from the agency recruiter demanding to know, "How could I?" Like an un-housebroken puppy who had just urinated on her new carpet, she demanded to know, "How dare I leave the job!" I was forever after placed on the agency's blacklist.

I am not alone in my assessment of this project. In the last couple of weeks, I have received numerous e-mails and reports detailing the harsh work conditions that temp attorneys face at this particular firm. Here are just some of the comments:

"We have to use a public, concourse-level bathroom where homeless people bathe and groom, there was a roach problem recently from other people leaving food/crap in the basement, so the place stinks of roach spray/bombs and there's Combat roach motels all over the place"

"basement, mice, falling ceilings"

"it's an utter hell-hole"

"The computer monitors are circa 1989 and the tubes are going bad, so the docs are hard to read as the type/fonts are blurry"

"the worst of the worst in terms of temping"

"it's like working at a construction site"

"Exits are blocked with boxes, wires and workstations"

"$21 an hour for both admitted and non-admitted attorneys"

"There is no internet because they don't trust us and no cell-phones because we are in the basement"

"Weiss pulled a real Bait & Switch - 2 days after I started they bumped the mandatory weekday hours from 9 a.m.-8:30 p.m. to 9 a.m.-11 p.m! A fourteen hour day!"

"Weiss is the most miserable place I have ever worked at and I have had alot of blue-collar jobs"

"bathroom filthy and inadequate"

On behalf of Chuckles the Chicken, Tom the Temp now presents Paul Weiss with the Temp Attorney Legal Sweatshop Award. Congratulations!

{Tom the Temp's award is based on his own personal opinion, relating to his own first-hand observations and those e-mails and reports that he has received from those who also have temped there.)

posted by helpme123 at 4:43 PM | 14 comments
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Saturday Service Disruption

Blog had to be taken down for several hours. Please do not mention specific matters worked on/clients retained by law firms in the comments section. Unfortunately, several comments in the last posting had to be disabled. I apologize for the disruption.

Blog will be down again Monday night for maintenance. Another comment worth highlighting:

"I work with several dozen contract attorneys in a comparable market. At the outset I adopted an overall approach based on trust in the group's professionalism. Thus we decided not to block internet usage, monitor comings and goings, etc., and generally eschewed big brotherish oversight. We try to be as transparent as possible, particularly regarding the length of the project so that the temps may line up other work. We haven't been particularly lavish with things like meals and transportation (other firms certainly offer more than we do in these areas). We do look at production for a number of reasons, including evaluating work effort and understanding of the project. We have let go a handful of people who couldn't do the work, but only after retraining and an opportunity to demonstrate competence.

Do you know what we discovered?

Individually and as a group their performance exceeded expectations by every conceivable measure. Moreover, many will be offered full time postions because of their attitude and ability. I am convinced that the project was successful in part because of, rather than in spite of, a positive work environment."

posted by helpme123 at 7:45 PM | 16 comments
Friday, February 03, 2006
Sudden Surprise

After putting up with Anita, today at 5 p.m., after slaving away all week to reach overtime, Anita's ever loyal sidekick and another burnt-out associate handed us a bomb-shell. Escape from Stalag 17, an avid Tom the Temp reader, couldn't have put what happened today better:

"Today the burnt-out associate spent the day on her throne {within her glass encased cubicle} and then gave audience at 5:15 to make the order 'off with their heads.' She closed it {the project} down for a week or more."

Apparently, after having been promised six months of steady employment (many of us turned down other projects based on this assumption), over 100 of us were suddenly, without notice, dumped out onto the sidewalk just three weeks after the project had commenced. We were told not to return back to work until Monday, February 13th. Tom the Temp understands the contingent nature of contract labor. The ruthlessness, however, of making false promises, of raising the false expectations of people (many of whom are raising children and/or paying mortgages) about overtime and project steadiness/duration is truly unconscionable.

posted by helpme123 at 9:21 PM | 25 comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Hey, Hey/Yo, Yo - The Sidekick Has Got To Go!

Despite the fact that I no longer have to engage in a two hour commute halfway to Philly every night, I am utterly exhausted. I can't wait to get into bed. My back is killing me.

On a more positive note, someone finally told off the Sidekick!

The Sidekick is a weak bully. The purpose of bullying is to hide inadequacy. Good managers manage, bad managers bully. Bullies bully to hide their inadequacy and weakness, and to divert attention away from their incompetence.

Tonight, the Sidekick emerged from his glass-encased cube, as he typically does after Anita leaves for the day, ready to pick a fight. In a condescending tone, he announced to the weary-eyed group (many of whom had been working since 8 a.m.) that we were to stop talking immediately, as it was "only" 7 p.m.

Typically, this is the type of condescending crap that you learn to deal with when you accept one of these gigs. Sometimes, however, a turning point may be reached when the employee finally realizes that they are not dealing with a normal human being like themselves, but with a dysfunctional, disordered individual who feels the need to exploit a fraudulent and broken system. One brave individual realized this and defiantly shouted out the simple word "So," in response to the Sidekick's observation that it was only 7 p.m.

Boy, was the Sidekick pissed. He hammered, stammered, and spun around a few times before demanding to know, "Who said that!" The Sidekick then went on to threaten us, in his always prepubescent voice, by asking us if, "Anyone has a problem with that?"

Yeah, Sidekick. Tom the Temp has a problem with it. He is sick and tired of putting up with your crap -- with your demeaning and domineering management style; with the bitterness that you are causing; with the low morale that you generating throughout the project. I have come to the sudden realization that you have just got to go.

posted by helpme123 at 11:47 PM | 38 comments
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Anita and her Sidekick

Yesterday was another turbulent day at work. Anita informed us that we were not allowed to leave the floor, a.k.a. our crammed workspaces, without first signing out with her. This new rule will be strictly enforced (it applies even to those taking a two minute cigarette break) and anyone caught violating it will be fired on the spot. Her sidekick, meanwhile, stood nodding in agreement with the new resolution and kindly reminded us that we were still allowed to use the bathroom. He warned us, however, not to abuse the privilege and to spend as little time in there as possible.

Confusion ensued, however, when someone asked if this new rule applied to the use of the kitchen sink. Anita and her sidekick appeared perplexed by the unexpected inquiry and told us that they would have to get back to us with the exact parameters of what constitutes a bathroom break.

posted by helpme123 at 10:31 PM | 18 comments
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Lockdown

Periodically, when you have 100 weary, strung-out temps forced to review documents for 11-12 hours per day and only 2-3 supervisors to oversee the whole dysfunctional operation, the project goes into something known as "lock-down" mode. In "lock-down" mode, woe to those who dare go to kitchen to grab a cup of coffee or even take an extended bathroom break. In "lock-down" mode all bets are off, it's every woman/man for him/herself.

It just happens that last Friday at 5p.m., the project unexpectedly shifted into "lock-down" mode. The perpetrator of this sudden shift was Anita, the project manager.

Anita, with her six foot male sidekick, begins to troll up and down the aisles. A thin, pale, middle aged man in the center of the room is clueless about what is about to hit him. Apparently, unaware of the sudden "lock-down," this eye-strained individual, exhausted from nine straight hours of document coding, thought he could get away with a surreptitious game of mine-sweeper. He is in for the public scolding of a lifetime.

Like a tiger on the hunt, Anita closes in and pounces on her helpless prey.

"How dare you!"

A hundred people gather around to watch the impending slaughter. As if she were scolding an out of line school child, she tersely admonishes:

"You can't play a game. How did you get that game?"

"Brian {the tech guy}, I thought I made it clear to you that you were supposed to take everything off the systems of 'those' people."

The man, red as a tomato, and understandly mortified beyond belief, remains shaken like a leaf. The next day the man's possessions were packed away and his seat sat empty.

posted by helpme123 at 8:45 PM | 18 comments
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Overbilling

Immoral behavior breeds immoral behavior.

Forcing someone to conduct mind-numbing document review for 11-12 hours per day in sweatshop conditions is a recipe for disaster. After 4-5 hours of staring into a small, luminous computer screen reviewing 100 page spreadsheets, one begins to lose one's mind. In previous posts, I mentioned how I have personally observed people "flip out" simply because they couldn't take it anymore. After returning from lunch one day over a year and a half ago, I witnessed one woman being escorted out of my building kicking and screaming by two gruff looking security guards. Similarly, I heard a second hand report that someone had a seizure and had to be carted off in an ambulance after completing an arduous, 85 hour workweek. Let's hope that he/she had an individual health insurance policy, as these jobs, of course, provide nothing in the way of benefits.

Some people, however, when faced with this dilemma simply overbill. Tom the temp has heard of elaborate plots being devised which would make even the Russian Mafia blush. Apparently, last year, a rogue computer programmer/attorney created a sophisticated computer program which would download itself onto the firm's discovery software and "blind" code documents. Similarly, a group of employees at another firm, who could no longer bear the burden of a 75 hour workweek, discovered a back-alley freight elevator and would climb down a rusty ladder in order to effectuate an escape.

Why don't people just deduct this time from their timesheets? Because in all likelihood, if you do so, you will find yourself on the unemployment line. Biglaw fosters an environment of overbilling. If your timesheet either shows too many breaks, or if your hours fail to reach the weekly minimum, you will soon find out from your agency (in subtle and oftentimes not so subtle ways) that your future on the project is at risk. In many instances, when a project winds down those that remain are almost always those with the highest billables, whose timesheets exhibit inflated, fraud-induced document counts.

Sadly, a young lawyer today is often faced with a Faustian dilemma of epic proportions. Either breach the rules of ethics and overbill, leave work "early" (8p.m.) and get fired, or "flip out" and find yourself admitted to a mental institution. What would you decide?

posted by helpme123 at 11:30 PM | 41 comments
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
The Legal Sweatshop Award: An Update

Don't worry! I am still planning to announce my legal sweatshop of the year award! Stay tuned. I want to thank everyone for their recommendations and I want to thank you all for sharing your personal experiences. If you haven't voted yet you still have time to do so!

Also, I recently received an inquiry from a reputable and tenacious reporter who plans on investigating the legal temp industry. If anyone would like to share their experiences with her, please contact me and I will provide you with the info.

Only four more hours before the start of another work day. Until next time!

posted by helpme123 at 12:23 AM | 25 comments
Sunday, January 22, 2006
The Great Escape

Friday, 1/20/06:

It's 4p.m. I have been sitting at my workstation for the last nine hours. I am numb. I have been staring into a white, flourescent computer screen for the last three days from 9 o'clock in the morning until 9 o'clock at night. A sudden, intense pain shoots up my right arm indicative of early carpal tunnel. I can't bear to read another e-mail, review another spreadsheet, or code another document. There is no escape. There is no internet. There is no telephone. There is just me and the clickity-click of the coders around me.

In a sudden spat of desperation, I rise like a phoenix. I make it my mission to reach the Starbucks across the street. I quickly grab my coat and head for the door. A hundred stunned and silent eyes jealously stare me down as I skillfully weave my way past row upon row of coding terminals. One wrong move can lead to sudden unemployment. But, luckily, this time I am safe. The project manager, sealed off in her glass-encased cubicle, appears to be pre-occupied with the latest issue of the Joyce Leslie catalogue.

I have made it out. I am safe. I am a bona-fide refugee of temp land. As I quickly gulp down my steaming, hot cup of java, I am hit by a disturbing realization. How am I going to get back into templand?

posted by helpme123 at 12:50 AM | 5 comments
Friday, January 20, 2006
Crazy Lady

I love coming home after an 11 hour day and reading my e-mail. I love the letters of support. It is nice to know that I am not alone in temp hell. I thank you all for your opinions and for your recommendations regarding hellish, legal sweatshops. Once in awhile, however, I do receive that "other" kind of letter. One of my favorites is from a crazy lady who keeps writing me and refers to herself as "Zabby." Despite the fact that I make it a point to keep my identity an absolute secret, "Zabby" is convinced that she knows who I am. On Thursday, "Zabby" wrote the following: {my comments in bold}

Tom,

You can't accuse law firms of running dangerous sweatshops just so people can make money. {I can!} You can't do that. {I can too!} You need to have proof. {I do!} You have to be held accountable for what you say. {fine!} I know who you are. {oh, really?} I am going to expose you. {arghh!} I am going to go where you live, if you continue to put out this slander and defamation. {Yikes! okay, I admit I was a little freaked out by this one} I am going to name your name, put your picture up, and tell everyone about it on the internet. {ha, ha - now I am scared} You will never work in law again. {how I wish this were true} Now stop the crap. {eww, don't say crap}

Okay, Zabby. Go ahead! Expose me. Here's your chance. Put my name and picture in the comments section and let's be done with it. But for heaven's sake, stop clogging up my e-mail box with your hammering and yammering. Is it me or is there an ever-increasing number of lunatics out there?

An interesting development came up at work. Tom the Temp is too tired to write about it now, but he will fill you in over the weekend. Stay tuned!

posted by helpme123 at 9:35 PM | 6 comments
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The Mill

I started a new project today. You probably can't tell just by reading this but I am utterly exhausted. All I want to do is go to bed and cry. Once again, the agency lied to me. Although the physical infastructure of the project was adequate, the atmosphere was absolutely stringent. There was no telephone, internet, or any other communication allowed with the outside world. You MUST work 60-70 hours a week and you MUST arrive by 9a.m. Also, you MUST take an hour lunch and you MUST leave at 8p.m. Although you MUST work until 8p.m., there was, of course, no dinner or transportation provided. The project was an absolute mill. The idea that an attorney will be able to competently undertake document review for six hours straight after working an 11 hour day in a hellhole is utterly preposterous. The corporate clients are in no way served by such a fictitious farce. What a complete and utter waste of time and money!

posted by helpme123 at 11:02 PM | 14 comments
Monday, January 16, 2006
Banana Republic

Today, I decided to pick up a few extra dress shirts for my upcoming project this week. It is amazing how difficult it is today to get decent clothing for a fair price. Retailers get away with charging the American consumer $60.00 for a shirt that costs less than $5.00 to manufacture in the third world. One store has the audacity to refer to itself as the "Banana Republic." I am getting to the point where I may need to set up a spinning wheel and weaving web in my living room. As it stands now, after taxes, I need to spend an extra four hours in temp hell just to buy a crappy cotton/polyester shirt.

Tom the Temp felt kind of crappy today. I feel like I am on the brink of serving a six-month prison sentence. The idea of spending the next few weeks trapped in an airless, sunless, stench hole is very dispiriting. It makes me think that instead of going to law school maybe I should have robbed a bank. How much worse could prison be?

posted by helpme123 at 11:49 PM | 4 comments
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Flying the Friendly Skies

Tom the Temp has been quite busy this week. I have received calls for several upcoming projects. They ALL require insane hours. When you boil it down, it appears as if I will be working two full time jobs at the same time! A baseline minimum of 70 hours per week does not leave alot of time for the finer things in life like family, friends, and household chores. Regardless, in all likelihood, I should be starting work next week. I will report the details in upcoming posts.

People often ask me how the legal profession became the way it is today. I don't have a clue. I am not an Economist, nor am I a Social Scientist. If I could reckon a guess, I would probably attribute it to the fact that everyone loves a good deal. Every so often a friend of mine will brag about how he/she was able to fly across the country for only $99 on a certain airline. What a deal! With a fancy new fleet, friendly staff, leather seats, and cheap in-flight service who wouldn't think that the $99 price tag wasn't a steal? What you don't see, however, is where the aircraft maintenance is being conducted. In order to offer super-low fares, the airlines often have to fix their planes in such places as El Salvador, where maintenance workers are paid 1/4 of that of regular workers. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/airline_maintenance.html You get what you pay for. Welcome aboard.

Like my misinformed friend, companies often think they are getting a good "deal" on contract legal labor. Legal costs have been skyrocketing in the last 20 years, while the volume of litigation has been increasing. {thanks to firms like Milberg, Weiss, a firm which is being investigated by the Justice department for kickbacks in the class-action trade.} http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110006939 Companies love it (they often demand it) when law firms are able to shave a few dollars off of discovery costs by utilizing contract labor. The savings that the companies receive are miniscule, however, compared to poor quality of legal services that these companies are actually receiving. I see it first-hand. I know that sticking 100 people in a stench filled basement for 12 hours a day is a recipe for litigation disaster; it hardly justifies charging the client $250 an hour, per individual. {remember the individual can get as little as $18 an hour for their work out of the $250 - leaves little incentive to do a good job.} People are bound to make mistakes (esp. in the high-stakes world of litigation) when they are forced to work under sweatshop type conditions. Again, you get what you pay for!

posted by helpme123 at 6:58 PM | 5 comments
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Legal Sweatshop Award

Who would you nominate for legal sweatshop of the month? Who, while requiring you to bill 80 hours a week, sticks you in an airless hell-hole and cheats you out of overtime? While Tom the Temp and several front-line sources definitely have some candidates in mind, he is more than eager to receive input from his blog-reading audience. tomthetemp@hotmail.com

posted by helpme123 at 11:21 PM | 8 comments
Monday, January 09, 2006
Things Never Change

Above is a picture of Pauline Newman at a 1981 commemoration of the Triangle Fire tragedy. As a young teenager, Pauline Newman became employed at the Triangle Factory. She was no longer employed there by the time of the fire but she wrote the following description of working conditions at the factory and speaks about why workers endured the indignities.

" One day a relative of mine who was employed by the now infamous Triangle Shirt Waist Co., the largest manufacturers of shirt waists in New York City, got me a job with that firm. The day I left the Jackson street shop the foreman told me that I was very lucky to have gotten a job with that concern because there is work all year. . . .I found later that workers were actually eager to work for this company because there was steady employment. . . . .The day's work was supposed to end at six in the afternoon. But, during most of the year we youngsters worked overtime until 9 p.m. every night except Fridays and Saturdays. No, we did not get additional pay for overtime. At this point it is worth recording the generocity (sic) of the Triangle Waist Co. by giving us a piece of apple pie for supper instead of additional pay! Working men and women of today who receive time and one half and at times double time for overtime will find it difficult to understand and to believe that the workers of those days were evidently willing to accept such conditions of labor without protest. . . . .As you will note, the days were long and the wages low — my starting wage was just one dollar and a half a week — a long week — consisting more often than not, of seven days. Especially was this true during the season, which in those days were longer than they are now. I will never forget the sign which on Saturday afternoons was posted on the wall near the elevator stating — "if you don't come in on Sunday you need not come in on Monday"!. . . .As I said before, the job was not strenous (sic). It was tedious. Since our day began early we were often hungry for sleep. I remember a song we used to sing which began with "I would rather sleep than eat". This song was very popular at that time. But there were conditions of work which in our ignorance we so patiently tolerated such as deductions from your meager wages if and when you were five minutes late — so often due to transportation delays; there was the constant watching you lest you pause for a moment from you work. You were watched when you went to the lavatory and if in the opinion of the forelady you stayed a minute or two longer than she thought you should have you were threatened with being fired; The deductions for being late was stricktly (sic) enforced because deductions even for a few minutes from several hundred people must have meant quite a sum of money; Despite these inhuman working conditions the workers — including myself — continued to work for this firm."

I guess some things never change Pauline Newman! We still work until 9 p.m. (usually later) and most of the time we still do not receive overtime. See-http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1097686264560 The job is still tedious, and we are still under the implicit understanding that if we don't come in on Sunday, we need not report to work on Monday. Also, like in your day, we are still watched when we go to the lavatory --at least at Paul, Weiss-- and we are still deducted pay for being more than five minutes late. Despite these deplorable working conditions the workers of today, like the workers in your day, continue to work for these firms - without the extra slice of apple pie, I might add.

In all seriousness, I know many people who read this blog are currently on projects or work in industries with similar sorts of issues. I know that you all, like Tom the Temp, have rent to pay. Nonetheless, it is imperative, not just for you but for those that follow, to report fire and safety violations!

http://www.osha.gov/as/opa/worker/index.html

Just because a law firm sticks you someplace don't assume that it has been certified for use as a workspace. Stay safe!

{Please note- Any reference in this blog to a statement regarding a specific organization or entity is backed up by first-hand knowledge and/or evidence with regards to that specific claim or allegation. In no way should these organizations or entities be viewed as being involved (implicitly or otherwise) in any other matter or allegation made on this site. Certain matters on this blog may rely on second hand knowledge and cannot be taken as 100% accurate until proven otherwise. Tom the temp uses his best judgement in what he decides to post and everything he writes is based upon his own personal opinion.}

posted by helpme123 at 6:37 PM | 2 comments
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Voices From the Past



On March 25, 1911, a warm spring afternoon, a small fire broke out in a bin of rags at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City's Greenwich Village. {the site is now the center of the NYU campus}. In less than an hour, 146 people - most of them young women - died, trapped by crowded confines and blocked exit doors. Every available ambulance in Manhattan was called upon to cart the dead to the morgue bodies charred to unrecognizable blackness or reddened to a sickly hue - as was to be seen by shoulders or limbs protruding through flame-eaten clothing.

Many of Tom the temp's non-lawyer friends claim that he is being overdramatic when he claims that several major New York City area law firms are literally running white-collar sweatshops. They can't believe that behind the Italian draperies, fancy mahogany, and Persian carpets exists a whole other world that more closely resembles a 19th century factory rather than a 21st century office suite. While not every law firm engages in such gross exploitation, believe Tom the temp when he tells you that many law firms do indeed run sweatshops right out of the 1800's. People, like cattle, are being shoved into windowless basements with little ventilation. One project packed people into a room for 12 hours so tightly that it forever after became known as the "pit." Another project only had one bathroom for over a hundred people. By the end of the day, the bathroom stench had become so unbearable that these unfortunate souls had to resort to begging office workers on other floors to spare them the use of their toilets.

Tom the Temp is most concerned for the safety of the people working under these conditions. The Triangle Fire spread so rapidly because the fire's flames caught hold of all of the flimsy lace and rolls of silk that went into making the shirtwaists. Likewise, today in the modern day law firm, boxes upon boxes of discovery documents are often shoved into basements packed in with the people who are forced to review them. Tom the Temp also heard unsubstantiated rumors that law firms, like the managers at the Triangle, have been closing off doors and exits to prevent people from taking any unauthorized breaks. Are we destined to see a repeat of a tragedy that had occurred so long ago? Only time will tell.

posted by helpme123 at 6:17 PM | 12 comments
Thursday, January 05, 2006
"In the Mix"

From: Tom the temp
To: Temp Recruiter
Date: 1/05/05
Re: Work

Temp Recruiter,

I hope you had a happy New Year. I was just writing to inform you that I am currently available for any upcoming projects. I have enclosed a recent copy of my resume.

Sincerely,
Tom the temp

{paraphrase- Tom the temp is tired, hungry, unemployed and needs to send in a $1,000 Sallie Mae payment in two weeks to help pay off that useless tier 1 law degree.}

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Temp Recruiter
To: Tom the temp
Date: 1/05/05
Re: Work

Tom the temp,

We will keep you in the mix.

Sincerely,
Temp Recruiter

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A temporary attorney employment agency generally categorizes its candidates under three distinct classifications. One set of candidates can be defined as "the working." Another set of candidates can be defined as being, "out of the mix." The "out of the mix" crowd probably includes the woman who wiped her feces on the bathroom wall after she discovered that they had cut her overtime. It also probably includes the woman who had a nervous breakdown after spending 80 hours trapped in a basement, thereby causing her to lash out at those around her, after which she put a Haitian hex on the law firm before being escorted out screaming by three menacing looking security guards. Fortunately, Tom the Temp can rest assured that he safely fits under the second category, that of being kept "in the mix."

posted by helpme123 at 6:33 PM | 7 comments
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
The Wolf guarding the Henhouse

Wow. Tom the Temp hit a nerve with yesterday's post. Thank you to everyone who sent e-mails, regarding the NALP.

One individual sent me an interesting e-mail that I would like to share with everyone. Apparently, the NALP is going to change their reporting rules for the Class of 2006. Check this out:

http://www.nalp.org/assets/195_class2006changesweb.pdf

According to the NALP's website they are going to make "two relatively minor, but nonetheless substantive changes" to the annual employment survey. Instead of temp attorneys marking down the "working in a law firm" category (which from my widespread experience of working in dozens of law firms I can attest to the fact that there are thousands of temps), law students will be forced to mark down the "working for a temp agency" category. Haha, did this provide me with a chuckle. Imagine the reactions of those bright-eyed, bushy-tailed prospective law students when they open up their admission packages and come to discover that over a quarter of their graduating class will turn out to be temps! Will these prospective students still invest in a $100,000 education for the opportunity to be a temp?

When I read this, a wave of optimism hit me. My optimism was short-lived, however. After doing a little research, I came to discover that, "proposed changes to NALP's by-laws must be voted upon by the membership of the Annual Education Conference." In other words, those who will be voting on the changes will be the law schools themselves! Why would the law schools shoot themselves in the foot and vote upon amendments that could potentially scare away hoards of tuition paying newbies? They won't. Apparently, once again it is a dark day in templand. At least I won't be alone in the dark confines of the temp attorney basement.

Nothing new to report on the jobfront. As expected, it is slow week for job orders. I did receive one call for a document review project in Connecticut. I have no desire to engage in a 5 hour round-trip commute, however. I will keep you updated.

posted by helpme123 at 4:56 PM | 5 comments
Complete and Honest Disclosure

I have been receiving many requests to post more often. While I apologize for being away for two and a half weeks, please understand that I have been busy trying to nail down another temp job. I will do everything in my power to try to update the site several times a week.

Tom the Temp often helps out on "securities" law cases. For all the newbies out there, a "securities" law case often involves a certain company lying about its earning and profitability. The company claims that it is bringing in a {fill in the blank}-load of money; in reality, however, it is hemorraging money faster than water falling through a sieve. All public companies are required to report their earnings on something called a 10(k). The company files this document with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The investor then uses these disclosures to decide whether or not to buy stock in the company. Trouble occurs when the company lies on these disclosure, causing the little-guy investor to buy worthless stock.

This got Tom the temp thinking. Isn't the legal profession and the law schools one big "Enron" kind of scandel? Think about it. Every year thousands of college graduates decide whether or not they want to "invest" in a legal education --often a $100,000 proposition. They decide the feasibility of this investment not by relying on a 10(k), but rather by relying on the career statistics put out by the law schools. The career statistics are standardized not by the SEC, but by something known the NALP.

Somebody posted the following comment on a message board:

"I further suspect that some law schools outright lie on their reported career placement statistics. Think about public companies. They have a strong incentive to lie on their financial statements, so that is why they have to prepare their statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and the accounting has to be audited by an independent public accounting firm. Despite these safeguards, companies like Enron are still caught lying on their financial statements. Law school career placement statistics do not have to be prepared in accordance with generally accepted principles, and they aren’t audited by independent public accountants. Therefore they can’t be trusted. Don’t be fooled into thinking that because they are “non-profit” they can be trusted, or that they are run only for the benefit of the public. There’s no such thing as no one making a profit. “Non-profit” only means that no one owns the residual profits from the law school, there are plenty of stakeholders making out like bandits."

Whether law schools outright lie on their NALP forms Tom the Temp wouldn't know. This does remind me of something I heard recently concerning a recently unemployed 2004 law graduate. This woman was unemployed, after passing the bar exam. Since it was time to file the annual NALP form, her career center wanted to know her employment status. At the time, she was working a two day temp job, stuffing envelopes in a law firm for four hours a day. Do you know what her law shool reported? They took her hourly wage, multiplied it by 2000 and claimed that she was an attorney in a 20-30 person law firm making a "projected" income of $50,000-60,000 dollars per year. Wow! Talk about an arithmetic trick.

posted by helpme123 at 1:16 AM | 4 comments
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Goodbye 2005 and hello to 2006! The New Year usually brings with it a feeling of hope and of a promise of things to come. I feel, however, a certain level of apprehension. Frankly put, I am unemployed. The holiday credit card bill will arrive in two and a half weeks and I am concerned about how I am going to make the payment. I view New Year's (like most other holidays) with mixed feelings. Surely, who doesn't mind rolling out of bed at noon and sitting in front of the tube all day watching the game. The unfortunate fact remains, however, that tomorrow is still a holiday for most people. While I am grateful for the fact that many people will get to spend an extra day with their families, it still doesn't eliminate the fact that I am on the brink of financial catastrophe. Next week looks like it is going to be a dismal week for job orders. Unfortunately, I may just have to bear another week of bitter and crushing unemployment.

I also has some misgivings concerning 2006, as a whole. Everytime I flip through the newspaper or turn on the t.v. I am assaulted with dire warnings regarding the general economy. Record deficits; the war in Iraq; the weakening dollar; slower productivity growth all portend for a weaker job market in the months and years to come. I realize what a detrimental effect a slowing economy will have on society as a whole, but I am particularly concerned about what effect it will have on the temp worker. I often hear stories relating to the late '01 and early '02 temp attorney market. At that time there were mass layoffs, no assignments, and ivy league law grads relegated to $17 an hour, two-week gigs. Let's hope we don't see a repeat of that calamitous situation in the upcoming year. Happy New Year!

posted by helpme123 at 7:35 PM | 5 comments
Friday, December 30, 2005
Collect two hundred dollars and proceed back to go

Tom the Temp is back! Sorry for the sudden disappearance. As some of you probably guessed, I was terminated. As I stated in my last post, I had to rush off to Toronto three weeks ago to visit with an ailing family member. That Sunday, I received a 60 second message informing me that my project had "wound" up. The agency requested that I stop by their office at my discretion to pick up my box of belongings. Note to newbies: NEVER call in sick your first week of work, it is truly the kiss of death.
Despite a family crisis, a bout of Christmas unemployment, and catching the flu, I had a nice holiday. I must never forget that things could always be much worse; everyone has something to be thankful for.

posted by helpme123 at 8:53 PM | 3 comments
Friday, December 09, 2005
Happy Friday

A recent personal emergency has developed which necessitated Tom the Temp to leave for Toronto for the weekend. I had to take off on Friday. I would say that I have a 50-50 chance of being canned from the project. Stories of heartless firings abound in the temp community. (eg. cell phones ringing during funeral services inquiring as to when the person would return to work.) The legal recruiters in the temp community are especially ruthless --remember for every hour you bill as a temp, your agency can take as much as a 50 percent cut. Even after clearing an emergency with your project supervisor, there is no guarantee that you won't receive a angry call from your agency accusing you of being a liar or a fabricater. I heard an unsubstaintiated rumor that one agency verbally assaulted a temp, calling him/her "a worthless piece of crap," and claimed that "he/she will never work in this town again." Alot of temps swear that a legal-wide temp industry blacklist exists. Is there some merit to this claim, or is it rather paranoia generated by long hours on the document review basement floor? More to come.

As of 3 o'clock, my answering machine remains silent. Let's hope this continues on into the weekend.

posted by helpme123 at 3:42 PM | 7 comments
Monday, December 05, 2005
The Harpies

Today's job is definitely living up to expectations. I will add more in upcoming posts when I have the time.

Every agency works in a similar sort of way. They all try to appear on their surfaces not to be the blood-sucking leaches for which they inevitably are -- remember for every hour you bill your agency can take up to a 50 percent cut. The people that "run" these agencies have been known to own mansions on Long Island and yachts on the Hudson. The agencies will go to any length, however, to lead you to believe that they are "partners in your job search." One of my favorite advertised epitomes is, "the positions we fill may be temporary, but the relationships last forever." Yeah right! Believe me. These people are not your friends, nor are they your career counselers; they are here like everyone else to make an easy buck!

At first glance, they certainly seem genuine. At holiday time, little boxes of chocolates arrive at your door adorned with cards from none other than your friends at X agency. Don't believe the sweet songs of these lovely Harpies, but see them for the flilthy monsters for which they truly are!

"When from the mountain tops, with hideous cry,
And clatt'ring wings, the hungry Harpies fly;
They snatch the meat, defiling all they find,
And, parting, leave a loathsome stench behind."

Virgil, "The Aeneid, Book III"


posted by helpme123 at 1:55 PM | 2 comments
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Random Ravings of a White Collar Day Laborer

Ah yes!! It finally arrived. After decades of socio-economic decay and third world exploitation, it is finally here! Someone came up with the bright idea of bringing that very model of third world desperation and despair right here to the modern day law firm! International Monetary Fund meet your jolly-old American counter-part Sallie Mae. Who needs a sweatshop in Cambodia when you got several right here in mid-town Manhattan?

"The use of contract and temporary attorneys grew 11 percent last year, many markets are beginning to utilize the trend, two, three, four years ago, it wasn't as common; that growth came at the expense of attorneys in the survey's 'other' category, 10,749, which includes of counsel, senior counsel and staff attorneys."

Ah yes, how the partners love them. Why bill a client $250 an hour and have to pay an associate $75 an hour when you can bill a client $250 an hour and pay a temp $25 an hour to do the same work? Last year, one particular mid-town firm shocked the legal community when its profits per partner far outpaced that of its peers. What could explain this miraculous transformation? Temps, temps, temps! Don't think the other firms didn't take notice. Everyone is now clamoring in one unified voice to bring in the temps!

{all commentors post at the pleasure of Tom the Temp}

posted by helpme123 at 11:35 PM | 3 comments
Previous Posts

* HIATUS
* Stupid Policy
* "Stench Soup"
* The Medusa
* Is Anita Back?
* The Vanishing Princess
* BRIBERY
* Pre-Law Students: Beware
* Anita, We Want A Raise
* Law School Applications Falling

Archives

* December 2005
* January 2006
* February 2006
* March 2006

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Name:helpme123
Location:New York, New York, United States

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Replacing Tom the Temp - No surprise there

So Tom the Temp took down his site. Here is a replacement. Yes, there are plenty of temps to go around. I do honestly hope that Tom, his Dad and his dog are all OK. But the show must go on!